Who Is Randhir Singh, The First Indian Elected To Head Olympic Council Of Asia

The former Olympian had been the acting president of OCA since 2021 but on Sunday he was unanimously chosen as the president during the 44th General Assembly of the continental body in New Delhi.

Here is a short profile of former Olympian Randhir Singh who has become the first Indian to become the president of OCA.

Who is Randhir Singh?

Randhir Singh comes from a family of royals in Patiala of Punjab. His uncle was Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, the last ruler of Patiala, who played Test cricket for India and was an IOC member. His father Bhalindra Singh too was a first-class cricketer and an IOC Member. Randhir would also go on to become an IOC member but before that he would have a successful shooting career.

Like his father and uncle, Randhir too was attracted to cricket in his youth. However, as the shooting laurels followed, he shifted focus completely to shooting.

In 1978, Randhir became the first Indian shooter to win an Asian Games gold in Bangkok in trap shooting. From 1968 to 1984, Randhir represented India at five consecutive Olympic Games. In the 1982 Asian Games held in Delhi, Randhir won a team silver.

Randhir began his administrative journey in 1984 at the Indian Olympic Association even as he continued to pursue shooting. In 1987, he was appointed the honorary secretary general of IOA, a position that he held till 2014. He had an illustrious administrative career and here are the places and positions he held throughout his career.

• Honorary Secretary General of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) (1987-2014)

• Member of the governing body of Sports Authority of India (1987-2010); Secretary General of Olympic Council of Asia (1991-2015)

• Founder Secretary General of the Afro-Asian Games Council (1998-2007);

• Member of the ANOC Executive Council (2002-)

• Member of the ANOC working group

• IOC Representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Foundation Board (2003-2005)

• Member of the WADA's Finance and Administration Committee (2005)

• Life vice President of OCA (2015-)

• Chair Asian Games Coordination Committee (2019-)

In 2021, Randhir took over as the acting president of the OCA and now on Sunday, he was elected as the president of the body.